Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 4 match against Al Wakrah.

“The match comes after a break in the league championship and many of our players had to join their national teams. Now we are seeking to work on the return of our players to focus again with the team, starting with the next match against Al Wakrah.

“I asked the players to work hard and focus and I told them that things will not be easy and we are well aware of the difficulties of the upcoming matches, as we face Al Wakrah and then Al Sadd and so on... We will work with full focus as we have done since the beginning of the season and to correct the mistakes, as we are well aware of the tough part of Ooredoo Stars League matches.

“Our players must play with team spirit and focus as we have a lot on the individual and collective levels, which gives us the advantage to provide a good performance.

“There is a big difference between the team of last season and the current season, as we recruited nine or 10 new players out of 15 or 16 transfers between the team’s ranks, unlike Al Wakrah who kept many of their players and are playing in the AFC Champions League Two this season.

“The international break helped us prepare Michael Olunga from injury as he became ready to play. The international break helped me a lot in assessing the level of many players and using some young elements in the QSL Cup matches.

“As you know, Edmilson is currently considered as a local player after joining the national team, which prompted us to sign a multi-position player at the attacking midfield level, which is what we felt in Benjamin Bourigeaud, whom I have been following for a while. In the end, after a great effort, the club’s management succeeded in convincing the management of his French club to agree for his switch,” said Galtier.

Al Duhail player Karim Boudiaf said, “Our international players may be affected by the stress factor after returning from World Cup qualifiers after the long trip to Laos, but we have got used to this atmosphere and have actually returned to focusing now with the team in order to provide the necessary addition in the upcoming match.

“We were very sad about the departure of Mohammed Musa as we came here together to Al Duhail, won many titles and held a simple party for him to bid him farewell. Of course, we wish him success in the future.”